What’s new in SQL Server 2017

August 14, 2018 by

SQL Server 2017 is considered a major release in the history of the SQL Server life cycle for various reasons. From my personal point of view, SQL Server 2017 is indeed an interesting release. After writing lot about it and testing various features of SQL Server 2017, I’d like to walk you through some of its […]

All about MSSQL-Scripter, the SQL Server cross-platform scripting Tool

August 14, 2018 by

One of the major challenges we face today, in the software development lifecycle, is with respect to development and deployment. As applications are deployed by moving various pieces of the SQL code between several versions, configuration, different editions, and sometimes even different platforms, deployment becomes daunting. In my opinion, scripting helps a lot and can […]

Continuous Database Delivery (CD) using SQL Server Tools SqlPackage.exe

August 14, 2018 by

A little curiosity on my part led me to research a little further on the available pieces of SQL Server Tools. A cross-platform tool for continuous integration and deployment, called SqlPackage, is part of SQL Server Data Tools. I picked it up because continuous integration, delivery and deployment are now must-have in the modern-day application […]

Overview of the SQLCMD utility in SQL Server

August 13, 2018 by

This article is aimed at helping you understand the sqlcmd utility. Of course, this is a tool most of us have used it at several occasions given that the tool has been around for a decade now. However, to be a solid starting point, this article contains some examples that help you understand the tool […]

Top SQL Server bloggers of 2018

August 1, 2018 by

We made a collection of the most popular SQL Server bloggers, including a link to each individual blog. The ranking is based on Alexa global score. If your blog is on this list, you can display the ‘Top blogger’ badge on your blog. Please see the bottom of the page for the instructions on how […]

SQL interview questions on database backups, restores and recovery – Part I

July 30, 2018 by

So far, we’ve discussed a lot about database backup-and-restore process. The backup database command is an online database copy of the SQL Server database and restore database command gives an option to test the consistency and integrity of the backup file. As we all know, the backup database command bound with many database options. Indeed, […]

Database Backup and Restore process in SQL Server – series intro

July 26, 2018 by

It’s a time to turn the corner from “DBA” to “DBA specialist”. This in-depth guide explores the importance of database backup-and-restore features and skills you’ll need to build good backup-and-restore strategies using the available tools and techniques. Along the way, you’ll pick up some interesting insights and most of the concepts of database backup and […]

SQL interview questions on database backups, restores and recovery – Part II

July 25, 2018 by

In this article, we’ll walk through, some of the refined list of SQL Server backup-and-restore, (or recovery) interview Q&A. Also, it includes the high-level overview and links of the “stairway to backup-and-restore series” articles for detailed information. As you read through the lists of Q&A, you’ll learn most of the features and concepts of Backup-and-Restore […]

SQL Server – development practices with referenced views

July 24, 2018 by

We’ve recently had production failures because our developers changed an important reference. In this case, we had a view which several procedures and views referenced. A developer made a change to the referenced view by removing columns, which caused several procedures and a view that referenced it to fail. We’re considering whether we should stop […]

Create a Soccer Heat map with Power BI

July 20, 2018 by

When I watched the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia match, at the end of the match I saw a very interesting and stunning soccer field heat map analysis. After this, I decided to create a soccer field heat map in Power BI. So I wrote this article!

SQL Server Database Backup and Restore reports

June 14, 2018 by

In the previous articles, we discussed several ways of taking backup and testing the restore process to ensure the integrity of the backup file. In this article, we’re going to discuss the importance of the database backup reporting. This kind of reporting will be designed to eliminate any unnecessary risk that may arise with the safety […]

What is SQL Data Sync

June 1, 2018 by

SQL Data Sync is a service that allows synchronizing data across multiple Azure SQL databases and on-premises SQL Server databases. In this article, a base concept of how the SQL Data Sync service works will be explained as well as what the requirements and limitations are when want to create data synchronization by using SQL […]

Backup Linux SQL Server databases using PowerShell and Windows task scheduler

May 22, 2018 by

This article is an in-depth guide on how PowerShell can be used to maintain and manage SQL backup on Linux and Windows machines. Here’s an outline of what this article is all about: Introduction Technical specifications How to load SQL Server modules on Windows machine Security – Credential Management The objectives of Backup and Restore […]

How to perform a page level restore in SQL Server

May 18, 2018 by

In this article in our stairway series on SQL Server backup and restore, we shall discuss the importance of understanding the internals of the page restoration for a database administrator. Most of the time, performing a page-level restore suffices for database availability. A good backup strategy is a key to recovery or restoration, and SQL […]

The HashBytes function in T-SQL

May 16, 2018 by

One of the paramount ways to guard data within a database is to utilize database encryption. However, no one encryption solution is perfect for all databases. Which encryption solution you select totally depends on the requirements of your application. Note that more powerful encryption for larger amounts of data requires a healthy amount of CPU. So, […]

Smart database backups in SQL Server 2017

May 14, 2018 by

So far, we’ve discussed several phases of backup that starts with planning, creating, strategizing and implementing. In this article, we are going to see how database administrators can define the strategy to improve backup performance and efficiently manage backups in SQL Server 2017. The following are the topics of discussion: Discuss checkpoints Discuss the enhancements […]